Jack's Letters
by thatchersheart
Summary: The letters Jake wrote for Elizabeth, that never got to her the way they should have. WARNING CHARACTER DEATH!
1. Prologue

The warm spring air blew softly around the small town of Hope Valley. The sun shone, birds chirped and people were happily walking the main street. Everything seemed perfect.

Elizabeth was busily rushing around the café, cleaning tables and collecting dishes. With school out for a month, Jack still away in the Northern Territories and nothing much to do, she offered to help a struggling Abigail at the café. She had just finished clearing what was Bill's table when Mr Yost walked in. He had a sorrowful look on his face and held a small piece of paper in his hand.

"Miss Thatcher, this telegram just came for you from the Northern Territories. I think you should go find Mrs Stanton before you read it. I'm sorry Miss Thatcher." Mr Yost said as he handed her the paper, face down and then left the café, leaving behind a puzzled, worried Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked down at the paper, then turned and walked out to the back room of the café. Abigail was busy rushing around the kitchen with Clara and neither noticed the woman entering.

"Abigail." Elizabeth said in a worried tone. Abigail turned and looked at the woman in front of her.

"Elizabeth. What's wrong?" She asked curiously. Concern clear on her face.

"Mr Yost just dropped off this telegram from the Northern Territories, he told me not to read it until you were with me. Then he apologised and left. I-I think it's bad news and I need you here when I read it." Elizabeth answered as a small tear welled up in her eye.

"Come upstairs with me, we'll read it up there. I'm sure it's okay Elizabeth. Come on." Abigail said as she embraced the woman slightly before leading her quickly upstairs.

The duo sat on Abigail's bed and for a moment just stared at the blank side of the paper, neither not really wanting to know the contents of the other side.

"Do you want me to read it first?" Abigail offered, breaking the silence.

"No. I want to read it first. Sorry." The younger woman stated.

"It's fine, Elizabeth. I'm here. Read it when you're ready."

"Here it goes." Elizabeth said shakily as she turned the paper over and began to read. A short moment later, the young woman broke out in violent sobs. Abigail quickly wrapped her arms around the crying Elizabeth.

"He-He's gone." Elizabeth cried in between sobs. At this point she was almost hysterical. And it hit Abigail, who quickly picked up the paper and read it.

 _Royal North-West Telegram._

 _Dear Miss Thatcher._

 _It is with great sadness that I must inform you that your fiancé, Jack Thornton, was killed in the line of duty yesterday. He was shot whilst taking down one of our final gangs. His belongings, horse and body, will be soon transported back to Hope Valley for a funeral and proper burial._

 _My greatest condolences, Deputy Chief Donald O'Connor._

Abigail gasped as she put the paper back down and pulled the hysterical Elizabeth into her lap. Tears were falling down her cheeks as the two women cried over the loss.

"You cry all you want Elizabeth. I know how it feels. You just cry. It's okay." The older woman said soothingly. The two remained this way for hours.

* * *

Three days after the telegram arrived with the news of Jack's death, Elizabeth remained upstairs in Abigail's spare bedroom. She refused to eat or do anything. She hadn't said a word since she read the letter.

Abigail tried desperately to help the poor woman but no matter how hard she tried, she just could not get Elizabeth to do anything.

A large group of Mounties arrived the day before with Jack's body and most of his belongings, including his uniform, clothes and a small wooden box. There was a small funeral and burial ceremony, he was laid to rest on the piece of land he had bought for him and Elizabeth.

All Jack's belongings were left in the room where Elizabeth was staying with Abigail. Everyone hoped it would help her if she felt he was near.

Elizabeth hadn't dared touch his things. She couldn't bring herself to accept that he really was gone.

It was later afternoon, on the way to the bathroom, Elizabeth tripped over the little wooden box of Jack's. She looked down at it, his name was engraved on the top and it was painted a light shade of blue. The colour was barely noticeable due to the amount of dirt covering it.

She slowly reached down and picked up the box. She wiped her hand over it, taking off some of the dirt. She carried the box back to the bed where she sat, staring at the box for a moment, before opening it.

* * *

 **A/N Hiya. So here is the prologue of Jack's Letters. I hope you didn't cry too much. Every chapter will be a letter from Jack with some filler chapters which may be added to show how Elizabeth takes the letters and how it effects her life after Jack's death.**

 **I don't own WCTH nor will I ever.**

 **Love you hearties. xx**


	2. Letter 1

_Dearest Elizabeth,_

 _I'm writing this in hope that you will never have to read this letter. That I will see you again, pull you into my arms and kiss you. Because the only way you will ever be reading this is if something happens up here and I don't make it._

 _Elizabeth I need you to know that our courtship, our love and relationship has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I want you to know that you are an amazing woman and I love you with all of my heart, forever and always._

 _I need you to be strong Elizabeth, don't waste your life mourning me forever. Think of the children at school, they depend on you. Don't push people away. Allow yourself to be loved again._

 _All my love,_

 _Your darling, Jack._


	3. Letter 2

**_So before this letter, I just want to reply to a couple reviews and make a quick disclaimer that I totally forgot to put at the start of this story._**

 ** _Disclaimer- I do not own WCTH, nor will I ever (unfortunately). The characters from the show are owned by Hallmark and the original Author of When Calls The Heart._**

 ** _Reviews-_**

 ** _Guest- The point of the story is not to help Elizabeth 'move on' or to give her hope. It is how, I believe, Elizabeth would cope without Jack. The point of the letters isn't to help her move on, in fact it's what you said, it's to open and keep open wounds. I don't believe that if Jack died on the show, that Elizabeth would cope very well without him, I think it would take a very long time for her to move on. This is what the story is about. Thank you. I really hope you do continue to read. xx_**

 ** _Mary Jo Vincent- Thank you so much. I agree that no one wants to think of Jack being dead but I thought this was a good way to show what could happen. xx_**

 ** _Simba- Noooo. I don't intend to either. Though I have a strong belief that the writers wouldn't be the ones to decide if Jack lives or dies, that decision should come down to Dan, what he wants and what's best for him, his family and career. xx_**

 ** _Thank you to all the other reviewers. I have to say a special thanks to Vanessa (Vanessajko), who helped with ideas and tips for this story. xx_**

 ** _If you have suggestions for letters, especially longer letters, please feel free to PM me._**

 ** _Without further a-do let's get onto this (very short) letter._**

* * *

 _My Dearest Elizabeth,_

 _It's been a month since I left, life here in the Northern Territories is hard and lonely. All I want to do is return to you and Hope Valley. As much as I love Hope Valley and miss you and everything there, my services really are needed and important here. Though that doesn't stop me from hoping this could all be over so I could come back to you, my dear._

 _How are things in Hope Valley? And most importantly, how are you? I sure hope Rip isn't being a bother. He's not the best of company at times, I know._

 _I really do miss you, dear Elizabeth. I lay awake most nights thinking about you and imaging our life together, our wedding, house, family, everything. The one thing keeping me going through all this is you. I will come back to you, I promise._

 _With all my heart and love,_

 _Your darling, Jack._


	4. IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE!

Hello fellow Hearties.

My plans for this story have changed and I've decided to rewrite this story. The original chapters will stay up until I start to post the new chapters.

PLease be patient as I'm a little tied up with final assessments for school.

Keep an eye out for this story and it's future updates as well as my new stories Silhouettes and Because I Love You! :)

Have a great day/night. God bless. xx

Anna xx


	5. AN - Apologies

**A/N**

 **I am immensely sorry for not updating Of Caterpillars and Butterflies. There were/are some serious mistakes on my part, regarding story line and time, which I'm slowly working on fixing. It is a slow process currently as I am behind in some of my studies and have exams coming up at the end of the month.I request that you please be understanding and patient as I get this work completed, I promise I will have a new chapter up hopefully before June.**

 **In the meantime, I have started writing, yet another story, which I am working very hard on. I'm not expecting it to be a super long running series. It will also consist of relatively short chapters, as it is much easier for me to just jump on and write a 500-1000ish word chapter, meaning it will have more regular updates. I am immensely impressed with this new story myself and cannot wait to publish it. I'm currently pre-writing some chapters, so I can make sure everything is smooth and so that I can make any additional changes in the storyline. Stay on the look out for it, I can't give you a title yet, but keep an eye out for anything new from me.**

 **I also have a long series that I've started, it won't be posted for a long time yet, as I would like to work on it, full book finished before I post.**

 **On a sad note, I am putting A Different Story into Hiatus for the mean time. I don't want to disappoint anyone, but after the wedding and the finale, I was and still am very demotivated with this story. I may bring it back, probably re-written. But for now, it will stay as it is. I'm very sorry to the readers who loved this storyline and little Claire.**

 **As for Jack's Letters, the re-write for this has been put on temporary hold until after my exams. I wasn't sure about posting new chapters to it after the finale, as was set during the Northern Territories time and I didn't want to confuse anyone with a new fic about Jack after his death when it wasn't corresponding to his real death. If that makes any sense.**

 **And finally, I want to say a big thank you to all my readers for being patient with my slow, almost never updates and also my helpful little proof-readers/editors (Anja and Kristyn).**

 **God bless you all, I love you all so much.**

 **Anna aka thatchersheart. xx**


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